Ehwmatt wrote:I finished the book last night. Pretty good, but I was surprised at how little detail there was about Toto's songs, tours, and songwriting experiences.

I have this criticism of almost every single rock bio I've read, all the way back to Keith Richards' book, which seemed to kickstart the rock bio trend.

I wonder if that kind of stuff gets removed in the editing process (I'm sure publishers think readers are more interested in salacious details or crazy stories than "how did you write 'Live For Today'"), or if the musicians themselves don't think anyone's really interested in those stories.

I remember owning a few books, at least one on the Beatles, Yes, and the Stones, that methodically went track by track through the discography and cobbled together as much as they could on each song based on old interviews with band members and others associated with the recordings. I wish these guys could do two books concurrently...one with the life story, and one that just talks, in graphic detail, about their records.

I finished the audiobook recently and enjoyed it. Also got the kindle edition for fun.

I liked it, though i probably went in expecting this to be more of an autobiography of Toto than an autobiography of Lukather. But reality is that it is his story and Toto is just one part of a much richer musical career. So once I got over that it wasn't the story of Toto and the band I settled into enjoy. He did have a rich career, a complicated personal life. And I also walked away with a sense of what a drive the man has. To become the music master he is requires such a drive. And it was amazing to see (good and bad) what happens when he channels that drive into other things ... raising kids, managing Toto, working on his craft etc.

There actually wasn't much new about Toto i didn't know except maybe a bit more about the band dynamics and hardships behind the scenes and some of the economic and management challenges.

That and it really hit home how tough that band is for singers. This is a band of ace musicians that puts songs together in a take or two. And it felt like - with the exception of Joe - none of the singers worked well in that environment. Bobby, Fergie, Byron all freaked out in the studio under the pressure. And in other bands and the way other bands recorded, maybe it wouldn't have been as much of a problem. But Toto has an intimidating level of musicianship and a ridiculously high standard of exactness that few other bands can match. Lukather really acknowledges the problem here and cuts them a bit of slack.

One final comment about the audiobook. At first, I was disappointed. Then I realized plain and simple that usually professional authors and actors are hired to read books. Luke is not that and it doesn't come across as well at first. Eventually he falls into that fun Luke groove, but you've got to give it patience and wait to the latter have to get it.

If there was something to nitpick about the book, for me, was that maybe the personal stuff was a little more than we the music fans wanted to hear about.

But for a hardcore Toto fan like myself, I was surprised that there were lots of nuggets about the band that I wasn't previously aware, and I'm sure they've never really talked about. Like how it was almost as if all the lead vocalists were destined to fail because Paich wrote his songs in a really high key, events leading into, and beyond, their spectacular Grammy win, how Foster started showing his true colors the same night after he lost and how Luke and Foster's friendship would never be the same after that, the extent of the record company screwing them over after Seventh One, details on Hungate's and Steve's departure from the band etc....

And stuff like Top Gun....probably every Toto fan knows Only You was done for the movie. And they chose Berlin instead. No one would ever know the hit Danger Zone was actually arranged by Luke and Paich, with Joe on vocals ! That is the version Kenny sings on.

There's some amazing session stories in there too for sure. But all in all, its a great read.

Not quite halfway through the book, but found it interesting that they would have considered Richard Page to replace Kimball. I love Page's writing, playing and singing, but with the issues Luke describes of Kimball and others having such a hard time with the high range of the material, Page doesn't seem like he would have been a good good fit for the high parts.

tj wrote:Not quite halfway through the book, but found it interesting that they would have considered Richard Page to replace Kimball. I love Page's writing, playing and singing, but with the issues Luke describes of Kimball and others having such a hard time with the high range of the material, Page doesn't seem like he would have been a good good fit for the high parts.

I think Page would be excellent with Toto. He's an accomplished vocalist and very versatile. Even now with Ringo's band he can still bring it.

Like the Toto boys, dude was on backing vocals for almost every record that came of out of the LA hit factory back in the day at one point of time.

He was already with Mr. Mister back then, or maybe he would have been the guy for Toto. What could have been......

I was pretty amazed/surprised how the book turned out. The Lows, the Highs, the happy the sad - I really felt those stories coming through. I heard from others they were disappointed , and before I decided to get the audio book, I had a sense a lot of the details were going to be left out.

But to my surprise, what was there I thought was perfect and the stories he shared created many great 'scenes' in my head, with my imagination filling in the gaps. The look of WTF he got from Foster at the Grammy's...wow, unreal and really disappointing. I know there's both sides to a story but it sounds like some strange bitterness. Or how about meeting his idol, Eric Clapton, and that relationship going south? And drama during the birth of his first kid - to the freak out of Simon's g/f with the big cat at Slash's house.

I really don't think he needed to share some of the personal stuff or even give the half the effort he gave, but I really appreciated hearing all of it. The audible is 10 hours, but its great and you really feel like you're hanging out with Luke. I finished it in 2 days. I just had to finish, I felt compelled. (A classic case of 'once you pick it up')

This is Luke - the larger than life character and amazing guitar player from my favorite band. There's ALOT of Toto history here even the more recent stuff (ex: Keith Carlock). The amount of $$$ they made, contracts, stories about Geof Workman, Quincy...to 'motherfucker' Jermain Jackson. What a wierd session that sounded like. There's more to the story as always, but you just have to be impressed by the absolute undeniable drive and talent from him, and the fact that survived all the crazy stuff.

The audio book is awesome - it's like having Luke in your living room, telling his road stories. Highly recommended. He doesn't try to be an actor - it truly comes off like him just telling these stories off the cuff. You'll love it.

Last edited by tedpruitt on Fri Oct 05, 2018 4:28 am, edited 1 time in total.

tj wrote:Not quite halfway through the book, but found it interesting that they would have considered Richard Page to replace Kimball. I love Page's writing, playing and singing, but with the issues Luke describes of Kimball and others having such a hard time with the high range of the material, Page doesn't seem like he would have been a good good fit for the high parts.

He also talks about them considering Michael McDonald - I sure as hell couldn't imagine their music with his lead. McDonald is brilliant - but just wouldn't have been the same.

Finished it. Enjoyable read. For me, much more so than Jon Cain's book. Perhaps because Luke had so many varied stories about different musicians across different genres. I read the Kindle version, so I don't know if the print is the same, but I am amazed that the last 25% of the book is a listing of the songs/albums that he has played on. KISS, Cheryl Ladd, Al Jarreau, Greg Lake, Dionne Warwick, Kenny Rogers, The Imperials, David Crosby, Asia, Van Halen, Manhattan Transfer, Roger Waters... Wow.

And the book confirms what someone here speculated- Simon was not brought back as a shareholder in 2010 - and wanted more say in the business- so he left. Simon described it in a podcast as “things change”.

JohnH wrote:And the book confirms what someone here speculated- Simon was not brought back as a shareholder in 2010 - and wanted more say in the business- so he left. Simon described it in a podcast as “things change”.

Yeah, true. The book does say a lot of details about TOTO as well, not just about Luke and his session time. Steve P leaving was funny, though....he left, but he never left, because he was just there all the time....lol....

I just read David Foster's book...and maybe it's a different kind of book and about him as a super producer and all, but I find it strange he would not even scratch the surface of his session days. Paich had 2 mentions, and Luke just one...on his track with Alice Cooper.

JohnH wrote:And the book confirms what someone here speculated- Simon was not brought back as a shareholder in 2010 - and wanted more say in the business- so he left. Simon described it in a podcast as “things change”.

Interesting. I miss Simon.

"I think we should all sue this women for depriving us of our God given right to go down with a clear mind, and good thoughts." - Stu, Consumate Pussy Eater

It's a pretty good read. Personally I would have loved tons more of the session stories, but I suppose the general public would find that less interesting. The book would have benefited from better editing and proofreading here and there -- there are a few typos that could easily have been avoided. (Bill Schnee's nickname is "Schnalien" (a pun on "alien"), not "Schnellien", and Donald Fagen's last name is, well, Fagen, not Fagan -- to name just a couple.) Also, the discography at the end could have done without a lot of "Greatest Hits" and "Best of" collections that don't contain any new tracks (Olivia Newton-John, The Tubes, Al Jarreau, Don Henley, Melissa Manchester, Chicago ...).

There is one strange error: In ch. 12, he says that he took his sister Lori to the Grammys in 1984 because he was divorced. But he wasn't divorced in 1984 -- he and Marie married in 1981, and she filed for divorce around the time that the band recorded the new tracks with Byron (ch. 19).

Morten wrote:It's a pretty good read. Personally I would have loved tons more of the session stories, but I suppose the general public would find that less interesting. The book would have benefited from better editing and proofreading here and there -- there are a few typos that could easily have been avoided. (Bill Schnee's nickname is "Schnalien" (a pun on "alien"), not "Schnellien", and Donald Fagen's last name is, well, Fagen, not Fagan -- to name just a couple.) Also, the discography at the end could have done without a lot of "Greatest Hits" and "Best of" collections that don't contain any new tracks (Olivia Newton-John, The Tubes, Al Jarreau, Don Henley, Melissa Manchester, Chicago ...).

There is one strange error: In ch. 12, he says that he took his sister Lori to the Grammys in 1984 because he was divorced. But he wasn't divorced in 1984 -- he and Marie married in 1981, and she filed for divorce around the time that the band recorded the new tracks with Byron (ch. 19).

On the first few pages of Cain's book, they refer to Neal as "Neil." Aren't editors supposed to catch this stuff?

"I think we should all sue this women for depriving us of our God given right to go down with a clear mind, and good thoughts." - Stu, Consumate Pussy Eater

Morten wrote:It's a pretty good read. Personally I would have loved tons more of the session stories, but I suppose the general public would find that less interesting. The book would have benefited from better editing and proofreading here and there -- there are a few typos that could easily have been avoided. (Bill Schnee's nickname is "Schnalien" (a pun on "alien"), not "Schnellien", and Donald Fagen's last name is, well, Fagen, not Fagan -- to name just a couple.) Also, the discography at the end could have done without a lot of "Greatest Hits" and "Best of" collections that don't contain any new tracks (Olivia Newton-John, The Tubes, Al Jarreau, Don Henley, Melissa Manchester, Chicago ...).

There is one strange error: In ch. 12, he says that he took his sister Lori to the Grammys in 1984 because he was divorced. But he wasn't divorced in 1984 -- he and Marie married in 1981, and she filed for divorce around the time that the band recorded the new tracks with Byron (ch. 19).

On the first few pages of Cain's book, they refer to Neal as "Neil." Aren't editors supposed to catch this stuff?

I saw that and several other things in his book. I thought maybe it was because I was reading the Kindle version and it somehow got screwed up in the format conversion.

JohnH wrote:And the book confirms what someone here speculated- Simon was not brought back as a shareholder in 2010 - and wanted more say in the business- so he left. Simon described it in a podcast as “things change”.

Did Luke say why, is there any indication he was in Simon's corner? It seems that Simon worked as hard on the band's behalf during his tenure as Luke and Paich, usually having a hand in the production as an engineer. Did Joe become a shareholder at that point? Simon was probably in the band longer than Joe and Steve Porcaro combined.

I'm still finishing Jon Cain's book while browsing through Luke's. Will read Luke's next. Really surprised to read that Kalodner was an asshole to the band. On his website Kalodner always professed love for TOTO.

"I think we should all sue this women for depriving us of our God given right to go down with a clear mind, and good thoughts." - Stu, Consumate Pussy Eater